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purplewalt
Active Member
I ordered my car two years ago, without a test drive.
Short story, NO, you do not need to wait to test drive to order your car.
The acceleration is awesome, but you probably cannot use its full potential in everyday driving situations.
It takes about 15 minutes to learn to use the regen braking in traffic.
Everything else about the car is available on video(s).
Yes, I actually visited a Tesla gallery in Austin (nearest at the time) to "test sit" in one, as I am kinda tall and wanted to confirm any headroom issues.
And the Gallery also had the actual paint color chips, samples of the interior seat materials and dash material samples, so I had a better idea of what things looked best to me (which helped a lot).
But my actual "test drive" was when I picked the car up.
Probably the two biggest features to consider before you order would be:
** 70D or 85D or P85D? If you plan on any kind of long distance travel and your budget allows, go for the 85 versions. If you plan on only staying closed to home, the 70D is a heck of a car.
** regular seats or NG seats? I personally really like the NG seats. They are slightly higher, and offer a lot more support/fit.
I came from a BMW 135i, so the biggest challenge/conversion was the size and maneuverability of the two vehicles.
Both are great cars, Tesla Model S is just a wonderful all-around car, very adaptable to almost any situation.
I did have 21s, have since gone to 19s due to damage from potholes (something to consider).
19s tires also last a lot longer as I am at 38K miles.
Short story, NO, you do not need to wait to test drive to order your car.
The acceleration is awesome, but you probably cannot use its full potential in everyday driving situations.
It takes about 15 minutes to learn to use the regen braking in traffic.
Everything else about the car is available on video(s).
Yes, I actually visited a Tesla gallery in Austin (nearest at the time) to "test sit" in one, as I am kinda tall and wanted to confirm any headroom issues.
And the Gallery also had the actual paint color chips, samples of the interior seat materials and dash material samples, so I had a better idea of what things looked best to me (which helped a lot).
But my actual "test drive" was when I picked the car up.
Probably the two biggest features to consider before you order would be:
** 70D or 85D or P85D? If you plan on any kind of long distance travel and your budget allows, go for the 85 versions. If you plan on only staying closed to home, the 70D is a heck of a car.
** regular seats or NG seats? I personally really like the NG seats. They are slightly higher, and offer a lot more support/fit.
I came from a BMW 135i, so the biggest challenge/conversion was the size and maneuverability of the two vehicles.
Both are great cars, Tesla Model S is just a wonderful all-around car, very adaptable to almost any situation.
I did have 21s, have since gone to 19s due to damage from potholes (something to consider).
19s tires also last a lot longer as I am at 38K miles.
I did a test drive, it wasn't quite a test drive to feel the acceleration as I hit a massive traffic jam during lunch hour/school day/occupy central, the owner adviser did ask me to step on it once I got out of the jam in wanchai ... that was almost 90 minutes after I got in.
No you don't need a test drive, yes you do need to have a look at the interior if you are concerned about getting what you expected from this price tag. Now in Hong Kong the real showroom is the roads around you typically you see 5-10 Tesla daily, isn't it enough said?
Thanks purplewalt for the detailed reply.
Well, Hong Kong is just a small place and I am not going to drive to Mainland China, so long distance travel is not an issue. I used to drive about 30km from home to work (so about 60km both ways on weekdays) but not any more, at least not for another year.
Yeh, I am wondering if I should go for a 70D or a 85D. There are 1 85D and 1 P85 parked near my parking spot. The former has just arrived several months while the latter about half year plus. It is the peer pressure that I want to go for a 85D.
I will take NG seats and cyclone 19" wheels as I want my rides more comfortable.
Even if I don't wait for the test drive, I will definitely go to the show room to "test sit" like you, especially the rear seats as I need to have a feel of the head and leg room at the back to take care of my 3 kids' need.
Cheers!
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Thank you nghktom and 3fiftynine.
I booked the test drive at the Tsuen Wan centre on a Saturday. So hopefully can really "try" something out.
As written in the reply to purplewalt, I will need to take a look at the interior.
BTW, will it be too hot inside the car on hot summer days if all glass pano roof is chosen? Esp. it was mentioned in other threads that the air-conditioning power of this vehicle is not as good as those of Japanese cars.
Yes, you can't compare air/con (power and responsiveness) with Japanese car, I didn't get pano roof (no regrets) as I grabbed one from inventory (less waiting). There are known issues on a few cars about pano roof so it's up to you. I had pano roof on every other car I seldom use it.
Sun roof is a must for re-selling a non-Tesla car in future as my experience is that the very first few questions that 2nd hand dealers asked is whether the car has a sun-roof after knowing the mileage, interior and exterior colour, and car age.
I plan to opt the guarantee resale so it is not the resale problem but the actual reality problem because it seems to me that there is no another "layer/door" which tries to insulate so that the temperature inside will not rise due to sunlight.
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Is it correct that charging is sorted out as long as there is a 13A socket (on the wall) that I can plug the charging wire into (the other end to the car)?
Does the wire come together with the car and included in the price tag or I have to buy one?
There are threads elsewhere about charging, quick answer is Mennekes (Germany) type G charging cable (10A max) at $4,700 is a must buy such that you could charge at home/work/public parking ... whenever 13A socket is available. You already paid Tesla for a IEC type 2 cable (medium rate 32A) in the trunk.
pano roof is not an issue. I have chosen this. With the Tesla apps on iphone, or ConnectTT on apple watch, you can switch on the a/c before you get into the vehicle. Just to share with you, my relative parked his porsche next to mine under the sun, after lunch, i switched on a/c via iphone, and when I got into my Tesla, i saw him can't even touch the wheel.
This was exactly what I experienced when I had my test drive in late Mar 2015. On the test drive day, I took my entire family so that the whole Model S was fully seated. Along the Pokfulam road, I pressed the accelerator to take over double deck bus and immediately noticed that I was at 135km/hr. I needed to take up my right foot right the way.
No matter what. You must test it to feel the roller coaster ride. It will be fun.
I also drive a 2012 528i N20 engine i4 and not your i6 engine.
I will order the MX not MS. I was going to order the MS but my 7seater is getting old and need a change.
2199
Thanks.
MX is a very big car and worried about my much room is required for opening the 2 rear doors.
Affirmative. It is a great car to drive. I test drove it today and made an order after that.
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